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Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth Kindle Edition

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 109 ratings
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*A NEW YORKER, ESQUIRE, HISTORY TODAY AND THE CONVERSATION BOOK OF THE YEAR*

‘The best case I've read for putting an upper limit on the accumulation of wealth’
Richard Wilkinson

'One of the most talked-about books to the moment … Limitarianism floats the heretical idea that fixing society isn’t just about saving the poorest from destitution, but about putting a cap on how much the richest are able to own' Spectator

No-one deserves to be a millionaire. Not even you.

We all notice when the poor get poorer: when there are more rough sleepers and food bank queues start to grow. But if the rich become richer, there is nothing much to see in public and, for most of us, daily life doesn't change. Or at least, not immediately.

In this astonishing, eye-opening intervention, world-leading philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns exposes the true extent of our wealth problem, which has spent the past fifty years silently spiralling out of control. In moral, political, economic, social, environmental and psychological terms, she shows, extreme wealth is not only unjustifiable but harmful to us all - the rich included.

In place of our current system, Robeyns offers a breathtakingly clear alternative: limitarianism. The answer to so many of the problems posed by neoliberal capitalism - and the opportunity for a vastly better world - lies in placing a hard limit on the wealth that any one person can accumulate. Because nobody deserves to be a millionaire. Not even you.

*Shortlisted for the Socrates Philosophy Prize*


From the Publisher

Limitarianism, comp title

How much is too much?

We all know that a growing number of people are falling below the poverty line. And we know that wealth inequality is increasing worldwide.

LIMITARIANISM is the first solution which makes this common-sense connection: if there is a poverty line, there must also be an extreme wealth line. We will only solve the related problems of inequality and poverty by putting a hard limit on the amount of wealth one person might hoard.

It’s time we embraced Limitarianism and moved in the direction of a fairer world.

It's dirty money

It's undermining democracy

It's setting the world on fire

Nobody deserves to be a multimillionaire

Product description

Review

There is a limit beyond which additional wealth can’t do much to enhance its owner’s life or happiness. But our economic system generates fortunes far beyond any such limit. Ingrid Robeyns makes a convincing case that an upper limit on wealth would be good for society as a whole and even for the wealthy themselves -- John Quiggin

Is it possible to meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet? Definitely not in a world dominated by extreme wealth, as Ingrid Robeyns powerfully argues. This landmark book combines meticulous logic with compelling personal stories to draw everyone - from the super-rich to the super-riled - into one of the most critical public debates of our times. Read it. -- Kate Raworth

Effortlessly navigating between ethics, political theory, economics and public policy, Ingrid Robeyns’ nuanced and persuasive defence of limitarianism is also a much-needed manifesto for reimagining political institutions -- Lea Ypi

You might find yourself, as I did, underlining a sentence or three on every page, and adding exclamation points in the margin -- Tim Adams ― Observer

A withering critique of the ethical, moral, and fiscal harms of unlimited wealth concentration . . . [This] caustic but balanced attack offers an equitable economic compromiseKirkus Reviews

Provocative ... begs an interesting debate about society's futureThe Times

Many people accept that there is a threshold that no one should fall below. But few have thought that there is a threshold that no one should be free to soar above. In this wonderful book, Ingrid Robeyns presents a novel and nuanced set of arguments for just such an upper threshold. This is a model of how to bring rigorous analysis to bear on practical issues, and to do so in an engaging, humane and accessible way -- Debra Satz

She’s done the maths. We need Limitarianism. UrgentlyIrish Examiner

Original … A fresh take … a thought-provoking read for all those interested in inequality -- Lucas Chancel ― Nature

The current Buddha of the cap-the-rich movement is Ingrid Robeyns, a professor of ethics at Utrecht University and the author, in January, of Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth. It’s a bracing, scolding read -- Ian Brown ― Globe and Mail

Powerful – a must-read -- Thomas Piketty

One of the most talked-about books to the moment … Limitarianism floats the heretical idea that fixing society isn’t just about saving the poorest from destitution, but about putting a cap on how much the richest are able to ownSpectator

A compelling case for limiting extreme wealth, along economic, political and moral lines ... This argument has never been more important, and this book is a persuasive call to action -- Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Perhaps the most blasphemous idea in contemporary discourse -- George Monbiot

Timely, disquieting, compelling … Limitarianism questions the idea that individual wealth is ever individualAtlantic

A provocative consideration of extreme wealth accumulationNew Yorker

Valuable, intriguing, provocative ... Robeyns poses a question that very rarely gets asked in mainstream politics ... How much is too much?Guardian

Ingrid Robeyns has written an essential book from a radical point of view. It is high time someone asked the question, "Is there such a thing as having too much money?" Along with its corollary question, 'So what are we going to do about it?' Robeyns tackles both with deep knowledge, experience and empathy -- Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist, and activist

Gripping ... we need to embrace a limitarian ethos and free our world once and for all from the fabulously rich. -- Sam Pizzigati ― Counterpunch

Robeyns proves that in a true democracy there are no rights without duties – no wealth without limits. Limitarianism offers a way to re-democratise wealth and thus re-socialise the richest 1%. -- Marlene Engelhorn, co-founder of taxmenow

Robeyns’ argument that top heavy wealth is sinking living standards for the many, spreading economic fear that authoritarians exploit is sound and her thoughtful ideas for reining in extreme wealth are provocative -- David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winner

The best case I've read for putting an upper limit on the accumulation of wealth. Even the super-rich might be glad if there was a finishing line! -- Richard Wilkinson

An urgent, thought provoking treatise that is both a compelling critique of limitless inequality and an imaginative account of a world without the superrich -- Peter Geoghegan

Limiting extreme wealth is an idea whose time has surely come and Ingrid Robeyns makes a powerful case for why this should be a priority for public and political debate. Limitarianism builds on what the epidemiology shows so clearly - inequality damages all of us and it needs to be tackled with the greatest urgency -- Kate Pickett

A landmark ... gripping, riveting, vivid ... We need to embrace, as Robeyns so compellingly argues, limits on income and wealth.Inequality.org

From the Back Cover

We all notice when the poor get poorer: when there are more rough sleepers and food bank queues start to grow. But if the rich become richer, there is nothing much to see in public and, for most of us, daily life doesn't change. Or at least, not immediately.

In this astonishing, eye-opening intervention, world-leading philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns exposes the true extent of our wealth problem, which has spent the past fifty years silently spiralling out of control. In moral, political, econom

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CF4LGKGX
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin (1 Feb. 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2356 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 109 ratings

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Ingrid Robeyns
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
109 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2024
    All you ever wanted to know about wealth inequality, why it occurs, and what can be done about it.
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2024
    very curious and got you thinking seriously and questioning
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2024
    Imposing limits on income could roll back the exorbitant explosion of CEO pay in recent decades. This reduces administrative costs compared to allowing unlimited income and wealth, and and then imposing taxes which may be avoided or evaded at least to some extent.
    Wealth needs to taxed effectively to reduce even more extreme existing concentration, say a 5% tax on wealth between £5 and £10 million, and a 10% tax on greater wealth, though a weakness of the book is a lack of detail on the specifics o f necessary tax reform.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 February 2024
    I'm not even half way through yet and in many ways it's a revelation on the level of wealth corruption and inequality that is ruining democracy and eroding the moral fabric of society. Ingrid certainly doesn't pull her punches in identifying the sources and giving solid examples of various individual's actions that sway the narrative to their own wealthy agendas. Quite how humanity has come to this point in life is shocking and horrific. If there's anyone who remotely believes in the idea of fairness will soon understand the level of naivety within them with regards to how policies and laws are governed. I'm not yet at the solution phase of the book as I'm still gasping at how the world is really run. But I'm quite keen to get there. Ingrid is brave, clever, and a beacon in an age where we need it the most. Also the irony that I'm reviewing it on a website that is the perfect example of the slow decay of society is not lost on me (yes Amazon and their practices are mentioned in the book which means I expect this review will likely - and unsurprisingly - be removed ). Anyway, for those who believe in a better future and are keen to understand how to tackle the issues we face, give it a read.
    6 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2024
    5 stars
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 September 2024
    The author fails to prove her point in the book. Although the subject is ostensibly about extreme wealth in individuals she strays into what very large companies are doing as well. She also reveals her true feelings against people in the global north (her phrase) : "The wealth that will be needed to fund these measures must first of all come from the super-rich before we turn to the rich and the middle classes". This comment is about paying reparations to the Global South (her phrase). So you can hopefully see this book is really about redistribution of wealth including the middle classes.

    In terms of what her limitarianism might mean she says "...limitarianism does not necessarily mean a top income tax rate of 100 per cent.". She doesn't prove at all as to what effect this might have on entrepreneurs etc.

    She also states that you effectively can't leave anything to your children : "If we were to fully redistribute all the revenue from inheritance tax it would quickly become obvious that the vast majority of the population had only something to gain from it."

    So in summary this book pretends to be about the super rich, but is really a tome on the redistribution of all wealth firstly to the global south and then to everyone else.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Civic Geek
    5.0 out of 5 stars Too Many Billionaires!
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 December 2024
    What could possibly go wrong with so many billionaires!? Especially so many who want to use their money to control society and to get even richer. Why isn't a billion dollars enough? For that matter.... why isn't a million dollars enough?

    Live well on a million. But you can overrun countries with your own personal billion. What can the rest of us do to protect ourselves?

    Read this great book!

    BT
  • Hermann Dillenberg
    4.0 out of 5 stars Hot off the press....
    Reviewed in Canada on 10 April 2024
    Product is great! Delivery was delayed by a day; had hoped to get it in time for a birthday present. No problem as I suspect it was caught up in Easter holiday. Keep up the super work. THD
  • Thomas
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great concept and well thought through.
    Reviewed in Japan on 5 July 2024
    I’ve only read the first three chapters, but I’ve done that twice. This is really a fantastic book and I’ve already recommended it to my students. I could review each chapter, but you can see other people’s comments. No, I’m a total believer in the logic of limited on extreme wealth, and we should continue with reasonable wage improvements. Surveys are very sensitive to the order and construction of the questions. This would make a great question of the presidential debates.
  • Dan Roskey
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very eye opening
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 November 2024
    A relevant read for today. Robeyns gives a compelling and humane argument for limiting individual wealth in our society. A great book for motivating one to take action; both politically and personally.
  • wabakimi man
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea!
    Reviewed in Canada on 16 April 2024
    Bad title. Should be "No more billionaires" . wants to limit extreme wealth but without a clear, simple or great idea on how to do so. Academic. Wordy. a bit stuffy. Valid goals, but ....

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